A party...from the bottom of their hearts

Photo Courtesy of Eleanora RussoDaniel Palladino, 14, third from the right, received a heart transplant in June. His childhood friends, from left, Sal Vancio, Kyle Thies, Gary Knapp, Nico Russo and Sal Todaro, are trying to help with the costs.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The event is called “A Day for Daniel,” and it’s felt from the heart.

The fundraiser will benefit Daniel Palladino, 14, who came home to Oakwood in late June after successfully recieving a heart transplant. A DJ pumps out the jams in his honor, July 10 at Big Nose Kate’s, Rossville.

“We have been friends since the fifth-grade,” explained Nico Russo, who said he and his friends wanted to raise money for the Palladinos.

“We wanted to be there for them, emotionally and financially,” adds Nico’s mother, Eleonora Russo.

Daniel was in his freshman year at New Dorp High School when his sickness became apparent. “It was a sudden thing,” his mother explains. “We didn’t know he had a heart condition until he fainted and we took him to the cardiologist.” He was subsequently sent to the heart failure team at New York Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center, Manhattan.

A week after he was admitted to the hospital, Daniel was placed on the heart transplant list. He had dialated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a condition in which the heart becomes weakened and enlarged and fails to efficiently pump blood.

His DCM was discovered by an echocardiogram, which uses an ultrasound to examine the heart. “This is very important for parents,” Mrs. Palladino said, “especially parents whose kids are athletes, because this saved my son’s life.”

According to Transplant Living, a nonprofit division of the United Network for Organ Sharing which manages the U.S. organ transplant system, a single heart transplant in 2008 cost just under $765,000 — a price that does not include the immunosuppresant medication that Daniel will have to take for the rest of his life.

While the total price of Daniel’s surgery has yet to be determined, the Palladinos are certain it will not be covered entirely by insurance.

For this reason, Daniel’s friends have been displaying flyers and asking for donations around New Dorp, and the Island community has been extremely supportive. “Someone just left $20 in my mailbox without a name,” Mrs. Russo explains. “All it said was ‘For Daniel.’¤”

Big Nose Kate’s also agreed to house the fundraiser at no cost, and various other companies have donated their time and services.

When asked why she, along with the other mothers, decided to help the boys with their idea, Mrs. Russo said, “We’re all friends, but we’re also family. We wanted to bring the good and the beautiful out of this situation to show Daniel the love.”

Admission to “A Day for Daniel” is $20 for adults and $10 for children, and all proceeds go directly to the Palladino family. It starts at noon and includes free food, beverages, DJ beats, face painting, and more. Raffles and 50/50 will also be sold.

Anyone wishing to donate can contact Eleonora Russo at 718-668-9270 or Barbara Todaro at 718-980-2833.